New Data Show Jobs Impact of Export Destinations

Isabel Sackner-Bernstein is an intern in the International Trade Administration’s Office of Public Affairs. She is studying Strategic Communication at Elon University.

What is an export to Canada actually worth?

We know that Canada has always been an important trade partner with the United States, and we know that total exports to Canada were more than $360 billion in 2013, but new data released from the International Trade Administration (ITA) now give more insight into the value of U.S. exports by destination than just dollar amounts.

What are exports to Canada worth? How about nearly 1.7 million U.S. jobs?

New data from ITA show exports to Canada supporting more jobs than any other U.S. export market, with Mexico as a close second at about 1.1 million. Other top destinations were China, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

The exports to these countries alone supported nearly 4.8 million U.S. jobs last year, which is almost as much as the entire populations of Chicago and Houston combined.

Here are some more quick facts we learned from this new data that you can impress your friends with:

U.S. exports set a record for a fourth consecutive year in 2013, reaching $2.3 trillion;

Exports to the Asia-Pacific region supported 3.2 million jobs, or 28 percent of all export-related jobs;

Canada was the top destination for U.S. exports in 2013, and nearly 1.7 million U.S. jobs were supported by these exports, and;

Although they beat us in the World Cup, goods exports to Belgium supported nearly 140,000 U.S. jobs.

So now that you’re the most well-informed member of your friend group, spread the word about how exporting is growing our economy. Talk to your local U.S. Export Assistance Center to find out how to make your business go global.

Never would have expected so many jobs being supported by goods going to Belgium. I did a little research and found that the largest Belgian import from the U.S. was surprisingly pharmaceuticals, amounting to over 8 Billion dollars. This almost doubled Belgian’s second largest U.S. import, which was organic chemicals.

Our agency has a specific focus on promoting exports and investment, which is why we don’t talk as much about the important topic of imports. You can, however, find all kinds of information about the U.S. trade balance with individual countries and the world at TradeStats Express.